Enhancing Heliostat Field Performance: A Comprehensive Study on Optical Efficiency and Annual Thermal Power

Abstract

The many advantages of solar photovoltaic technology make it bound to be commercially competitive in the coming years, and its development is strategically important. The parameters of the heliostat field, including the positional coordinates of the absorber tower, the size and mounting height of the heliostat mirrors, as well as the number and position of the heliostat mirrors, are designed according to the requirement of the rated annual average thermal power output of 60 MW so that the heliostat field will have the largest possible annual average thermal power output per unit of mirror area under the condition of reaching the rated power. Larger sizes and higher mounting heights of heliostats help to capture more solar energy and thus increase the annual average output thermal power per mirror area. The efficiency and output thermal power of heliostats of different sizes and mounting heights are evaluated by simulating the numerical calculation method and the best combination is found.